Metrics: Measuring importance

Bibliometrics is the term used to describe various approaches to analysing measures of the use of academic literature, in particular articles in peer-reviewed journals. More broadly, the topic addresses the validity or otherwise of these measures as indicators of the impact, influence or value of the research being reported. These measures, and in particular the journal Impact Factor, are used as evidence for the quality of research, to make decisions about appointments, to judge a journal editor's success, and (it is assumed) to make funding decisions. Until recently, bibliometrics was mainly about citations, but now it is increasingly common to measure online usage, and even tweets, blogging and user star-ratings when assessing the contribution of a published research article.